By Dean Seal
David Tepper's hedge fund Appaloosa Management dumped its investments in top U.S. airlines during the first quarter, when the outbreak of war in Iran surged jet fuel prices, according to a regulatory filing.
Appaloosa's latest holdings report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, released on Friday, shows no signs of Delta Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines.
By the end of 2025, the hedge fund was sitting on a massive stake of more than 14.1 million American shares, worth nearly $217 million as of Dec. 31, according to a filing from February. That was up from over 9.2 million shares in the prior quarter that Appaloosa reported last November.
Appaloosa was also sitting on 475,000 Delta shares as of Dec. 31, worth a reported $33 million at the time, and 465,000 United shares valued then at $52 million.
The airline industry was off to a strong start this year until the conflict in Iran triggered a global energy crisis that sent oil prices soaring. In turn, the per-barrel price of jet fuel more than doubled in the matter of a few weeks.
Fuel is the second biggest cost center for airlines behind labor. The run-up has put pressure on profitability industrywide, prompting major carriers to raise fares and pull back their flying schedules. Spirit Airlines collapsed earlier this month after the fuel surge undercut its plan to emerge from bankruptcy. Other budget carriers have pressed the Trump administration for relief.
Airline stocks have fallen amid the turmoil. U.S. Global Jets ETF, which tracks the airline industry, hit a 6-year high of $31.16 in early February. It sank to $23.64 by the end of March.
Delta shares are still up 1% from where they started the year. United and American shares meanwhile have fallen 17% and 20%, respectively.
On top of its departure from the airline sector, Appaloosa has liquidated its positions in Owens Corning, Mohawk Industries and Goodyear Tire & Rubber.
The fund nearly doubled its stake in Amazon.com and tripled its holdings of Uber Technologies, while slashing its positions in Microsoft, Deutsche Bank and Whirlpool. It also dumped some of its shares in Nvidia and Meta Platforms.
Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 15, 2026 17:06 ET (21:06 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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